Genshin Impact: Zhongli Analysis

Hello Travelers, I hope you’re enjoying the 1.1 Update on Genshin Impact. Finally, Zhongli is here, many players have been saving Primogems for him as he's arguably the most anticipated character in the - short - history of this Game. Previously, Gamepress already talked abou this character thank  Honey Hunter World 's Datamines that turned out to be true on Zhongli's release. Testing the character made some things clearer, but for the most part this article will stay the same with a few tweaks, specifically in the Party Composition and Artifacts suggestions.

Just like his role in the lore implies, Zhongli is a Geo character. To attack, he uses a Polearm and his Normal Attack Chain has 6 hit DMG in total.

Zhongli’s 5th hit is nifty, as he kicks his polearm causing it to rotate in the air for about a second, which inflicts multiple hits to opponents in range - good for weapons that have Damage per hit effects, like Crescent Pike -. The unique part is that apparently, while the weapon rotates, Zhong Li can attack-cancel by dashing, but the attack won’t finish until the rotation ends or Zhong Li starts another Combo, which makes his NA chain quite practical as a whole.

Zhongli’s Ascension Stat is Geo Damage, which magnifies his main strengths greatly as we’ll see in the following paragraphs.

Regarding his Elemental Skill, it has different uses depending on whether you hold his Skill button or not.

The “press” effect creates a Geo pillar from the ground, that inflict Damage to opponents on hit and resonates with other Geo constructs - which means they replicate the pillar's effects -, dealing continuous Geo Damage. At C0, he can only create one at a time. 

Very interesting effects can be generated if you combine Zhongli's pillar with Geo Traveler's constructs or even Ningguang's, although setting the whole thing up can be wonky at times. Zhongli's C1 makes this easier, as it makes him able to mantain 2 pillars on the floor simultaneously - although 2 pillars can't resonate with each other, just with other constructs -.

The “hold” effect causes AoE Damage, creates a shield that scales off Zhongli’s Max HP and absorbs Geo hits 250% more effectively - so it works like Diona’s -, and drains Geo Element from a maximum of two targets - example, it breaks Geo Shields -.

It’s worth noting that the Shield stays on your current character when you switch out, which is incredibly practical considering its 20 seconds duration, and Zhongli’s first talent.

This has great synergy with characters that have the Retracing Bolide set on them, but we’ll address this later. 

Furthermore, Zhongli’s C6 - Yeah, I know - makes the shield an overpowered Supportive effect by making it a Healing Skill as well

This, combined with the Shield’s base Damage absorption its Talent-based fortifications, makes Zhongli’s Elemental Skill arguably the best Defensive tool in the game for people that are rich enough to pull the Geo Archon 7 times. What’s interesting is that its duration and CD allow him to use the Shield and still be able to summon Zhongli’s Geo structure(s) afterward before it ends.

Last but not least, his Elemental Burst casts an AoE meteor that deals significant AoE Damage, while also petrifying targets on hit.

This Burst’s Energy Requirements and CD are both really advantageous, which is amazing considering how much potential his petrification utility has.

His second Talent increases his Burst Damage depending on his Max HP, but this doesn't mean you should stack HP on Zhongli, as you'll see later.

Zhongli’s C4 makes his Burst straight-up better as well.

As you might’ve noticed, Zhongli’s constellations are pretty significant. First of all, what would qualify as a “Whale” character? Let’s say, for convenience, that a “Whale” character is one that relies on his Constellations to achieve most of his potential, is that the case for Zhongli?

Truth be told, the only Constellation that looks unreasonably strong is his C6, as it adds another layer to Zhongli’s Supportive capabilities, while the others are just improvements to what he can already do - while his C1 makes his pillars considerably more effective, they're not his main Damage source in any case -. 

So no, while they make Zhongli even better, it doesn’t look like his Constellations are strictly required for him to be used in any particular role, except Healer.

Now that we’ve looked at how Zhongli works in general, let’s take a deeper look at what roles he could cover in battle - at C0, for the most part -.

Primarily, Zhongli is geared to be a great Support. Starting from his shield, it seems to have great durability and duration, which not only make it a great defensive tool but also make it synergize perfectly with the Retracing Bolide set, as stated earlier.

By putting this on your main DPS, you can use Zhongli’s shield and then switch to him for an enormous Damage increase. Plus, Zhongli’s Geo Type makes it easy for him to create Crystalize shields in the eventuality his main shield breaks, so Retracing Bolide is a reliable and strong Damage set if you use Zhongli as Support. A character that would benefit from this is Childe, since he doesn’t have a great DPS set at the moment - but it looks like Update 1.2 will fix this issue for him -.

Another key part of Zhongli’s Supportive toolkit is his Elemental Burst, which petrifies opponents for 4 seconds at Talent lv 10. Now, while the fact that Zhongli doesn't have access to mind-boggling damage multipliers such as Vaporize or Melt, if built well his Burst will consistently inflict high Damage, but don't expect him to outdamage characters that benefit from overpowered Elemental Reactions. The petrify effect isn't particularly incredible, but it's a nice tool to block opponents like Fatui before they use their shields.

So, what makes Zhongli good? What could he bring to your Abyss Team, for example? Truth be told, nothing he's able to do is particularly revolutionary, but he still has value as a Defensive Burst Support. His shield, in particular, is a consistently great defensive tool thanks to its low CD and relatively high Damage absorption capabilities - in realistic scenarios you should expect it to absorb 6000-8000 Damage -. This doesn't mean the Geo Archon allows you to rush through opponents like Rambo, but it's still a foolproof tool that'll allow you to Tank a few more hits even in high level Abyss. Its Skill's low CDs also allow Zhongli to cast his pillars before the shield disappears, which is important for Energy Recharge purposes.

Speaking about Energy Recharge, the pillars alone don't regenerate enough particles for him to recover 40 Energy in 12 seconds - his burst's CD -, so he needs to have some Energy Recharge% rolls on either his substats or main stats - Energy Recharge% weapon might be a bit overkill -. You need to manage particles well with him, his Burst is his main source as it's a powerful AoE nuke - opponents drop energy particles when they fall under certain HP thresholds or they're killed -, but he might have some issues when there aren't many opponents to face.

Artifacts

• 2-set Archaic Petra + 2-set Noblesse Oblige: probably optimal, as it increases his Burst Damage by a lot.
• 4-set Noblesse Oblige: increases his Burst Damage while also providing Party-wide ATK% buff potential, which is good considering how frequently his Burst can be used.
• 4-set Archaic Petra: This works well since it Buffs his overall damage sources while also making him a good damage support, although picking up the right crystal can be situational in some cases.

Regarding his Artifacts stats, it’s probably worth to build him as you’d build a DPS considering Geo isn’t really a strong Reaction based element, so: Geo Damage% Goblet, Crit Rate/DMG% Circlet, ATK%/Energy Recharge% Sands. Regarding Sub stats, ATK%, Energy Recharge%, Crit DMG%, Crit Rate% are all good. HP% is not bad since both his Burst and his Shield benefit from it, but Offensively it doesn't has the same impact as the stats listed previously, so just consider it an average roll. 

Regarding his Energy Recharge%, 40% should be fine in most cases if you manage particles well, but feel free to stack more if you think it's not enough for your current Party Build.

Weapons

• Vortex Vanquisher: Very good option thanks to its high ATK% scaling, which magnifies Zhongli's Burst.
• Skyward Spine/Primordial Jade Winged-Spear/Kunwu’s Iris Rift: Their Effects don’t look exceptional for him, but 5* weapons’ main stats are always good and their secondary stats fit Zhongli well.
• Deathmatch: Strong option for him, it increases his Crit Rate% and gives him an immediate ATK% increase as soon as he switches in, which is practical for Elemental Burst usage.
• Blackcliff Pole: Interesting choice thanks to its Crit DMG% secondary stat, and its 30 seconds long ATK% effect that activates after defeating an enemy and stacks 3 times- Zhongli’s Burst has a 12 CD, it’s reasonable to assume you can use it twice in 30 seconds -.
• Prototype Grudge: F2P choice, mostly good for its Energy Recharge%.
• Favonius Lance: a Gacha version of the Prototype Grudge, but its effect is better for Energy Recharge.
• White Tassel/Black Tassel/Halberd: 3* choices, their effects aren’t good for Support Zhongli but their secondary stats can come in handy.

Party Options

• Geo viability: The Geo resonance makes him a really good partner for DPS Ningguang . The latter's Jade screen is also a good tool to alternate Elemental Burst nukes with both characters. Using two Geo characters could sound limiting in some scenarios where you need a more diverse party Elements wise, but if you can make it work the two of them can be an awesome Damage duo.
  
  Regarding his Elemental Skill's resonance, it's mostly a nice plus. Sure, you can make really interesting and funny looking combination with Geo Traveler's constructs, but Damage wise it falls short compared to most other Zhongli Party Compositions and it's also more limited Elements wise.
   
• Other DPS synergies: As stated before, Zhongli's reliable shield makes him a great Retracing Bolide Support. That set fits really well on characters that have high value Charged Attacks such as Keqing and Childe - two characters that also happen to not have an exceptional standard set yet -. He provides high survivability and periodical strong Elemental Bursts, so other than his Retracing Bolide synergy he's a character you can put anywhere and he'll do a fine job.

As a DPS, Zhongli relies on his physical Polearm Damage for the most part, while his Geo abilities become secondary options to increase his practicability in battle - Having a shield fits Melee DPS well, and petrifying opponents makes them easy targets -. There is another example in-game of a Physical Polearm DPS that can work well, namely Xiangling, but it’s worth noting that she’s still considerably worse than strong Elemental Damage dealers such as Diluc and Childe. 

The reason is that many opponents have high Physical Resistance%, which forces players to bring Electro and Cryo characters to activate Superconduct on them. This combo, other than being reliant on multiple conditions - switch to the Cryo character to apply the element, then switch to the Electro character to proc the reaction, then switch back to the main DPS -, also restricts your team choices. It’s more practical if the Physical DPS is Electro or Cryo, so just another slot has to be used for the Superconduct combo and it’s also more practical to activate in that case.

Artifacts

• 2-pieces Bloodstained + 2-pieces Petra/Gladiator: Great combo, allows you to increase Zhongli’s physical Damage while also boosting the rest of his Abilities. Bloodstained also has the best synergy with Crescent Pike out of any set, since it directly increases its Effect's value.
• 4-pieces Bolide: Great DPS Build, better than Gladiator offensively since it makes his Charged Attack much better.
• 4-pieces Gladiator: Standard DPS Build, increases his NA Damage by a lot.

Regarding rolls, Physical Damage% Goblet, Crit Rate/Damage% Circlet, ATK% Sands. Needed substats are ATK%, Crit Rate/Damage%, HP% isn’t too bad considering his Shield’s value and his Burst-related talent, Energy Recharge% isn’t horrible either as he doesn't generate many paticles by himself.

Weapons

• Crescent Pike: Very good F2P polearm - can be max refined easily -, it has a Physical Damage% secondary stat which works well on Zhongli, and its effect has high DPS value. He has a faster 9-hits chain than Xiangling, so he should outperform purely Physical Damage wise despite his low NA skill values.
• Vortex Vanquisher: This weapon is basically tailor made for Zhongli, as it consistently increases his ATK% by a lot considering how consistent his Shield generation is.
• Primordial Jade Winged-Spear: Verty strong 5* Weapon for him thanks to Crit Rate% Secondary Stats, and decent effect scaling that boosts his overall ATK% as well as his Skill Damage.
• Skyward Spine: Energy Recharge% isn’t optimal as a secondary stat, but its effect has great DPS potential.
• Kunwu’s Rift: Great stats since it’s 5*, and since his Charged Attack is an important part of his Physical Combo chain, its effect fits very well too.
• Deathmatch/Blackcliff Pole: good Crit Rate/Damage% choices, as they also have ATK% increase effects.
• White Tassel: Great secondary stat and effect, only limited by 3* stats.
• Prototype Grudge: good DPS effect but meh secondary stat.

Party Options

Superconduct: Since Zhongli can't generate Superconduct by himself, he needs to be paired with allies that can do that for him against opponents with high Physical resistance. Fischl and Diona make a good combo for that, as Oz deals Electro Damage consistently and he's also a nice particle generator, and Diona has low CD on her Cryo Skill and offers other nice utility like Heals. Other Cryo characters like Qiqi and Kaeya are also usable for this purpose. 

Other than Superconduct, Zhongli doesn't have many other Party synergies since Geo is pretty neutral as a element. Bennett is an obvious choice since he's so universal as a Damage Support, and the same goes for Mona - to a lesser extent -. Xinyan provides Physical Damage Buffs thanks to her shield, so she's a nice option as well. Geo character for the Elemental Resonance effects aren't bad either, but generally the other listed Supports are more versatile in practically.